Gadgetory

and I gotta make that incredible ugly look skirt Reever is a man of many talents he juggles hatchets spins frisbees with his teeth and is a master sculptor in an unusual medium toothpicks and Elmer's glue that this embodies the maker movement embodies tinkering it is classic taking a household item and making something that is kinetic over the course of three decades using more than 105,000 toothpicks Weaver created rolling through the bay a nine foot high love letter to his hometown of San Francisco at first glance you might think the intricate sculpture was designed using CAD or maybe 3d modeling software but the tools of Weaver's trade are actually less sophisticated I use this old sharp calculator for figuring out how many things will fit in an area if I need arches and I have the circumference of 23 inches how am I going to fit an inch and a half you know into that so nail clippers service toothpick trimmers and everyday objects become forms and molds what's the most difficult part about creating a toothpick sculpture um the glue I'll used masking tape I use any kind of thing household items salt pepper shakers masking tape my phone coffee cups whatever's handy Weaver's natural talent has elevated this rather low tech art form but he credits high tech for much of his success just snow balled it got on the internet and it went viral in the matter of a couple years you go to search page after search page and I never would have thought this I mean I did a radio show in South Africa at midnight impressive for a hobby that traces back to a fourth grade assignment sue Rathbun a elementary school teacher had us build these little sculptures I went home I wanted to build a huge one I started making these long strands of toothpicks in 1974 Weaver who has no formal training created a few San Francisco landmarks out of toothpicks three things Lombard Golden Gate cable car those are my first original things and then I said wow it would be cool if i made like another thing of the city here and that was how rolling through the bay was born ultimately the sculpture included many sentimental favorite home right here is 518 twelfth Avenue you can see the address right five generations of our family spent the holidays at 518 twelfth Avenue between ends and Balboa that's my mom's home it was like the place where our family whenever we got together that's where we went this meticulously detailed San Francisco homage is now on display at the city's exploratorium museum right there thank you attracting sizable crowds especially when they realize it's not just a sculpture a ping pong ball roller coaster some people have said like rolling through the bay lone galleon a pirate ship demonstrates his eye for precision with its retractable cannons and movable captain's wheel and what's next for scott weaver it would be a self portrait of myself doing what I invented maybe the ping pong ball rolling through myself would roll through my arm and then down through my to my foot that would be cool continuing his tradition of turning ordinary objects into something extraordinary in San Francisco I'm Sumi das cnet.com for CBS News